Transmission clutch



Filed Dec. 19, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l um mm E om 3% mm wm Feb. l1, 1941. F. L. LAWRENCE TRANSMISSION CLUTCH Filed Dec. 19 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 {dA/a..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,231,411 rnaNsMrssroN CLUTCH Frank Lendrum Lawrence, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application December 19, 1938, SerialNo. 246,653

7 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in transmission clutches which while' capable of use for transmitting power at selective speeds from many drive to driven shafts is particularly adaptable '5 for transmitting the drive between an internal combustion engine and a winding drum.

The objects of the invention are to provide means whereby instantaneous change may be made from one driven speed to another without shock either to the drive or driven shafts; to provide a flywheel structure which forms a housing for the transmission clutches, and to provide a control for said clutches which is operable in axial alignment with the drive shaft.

l5 The invention consists of a transmission clutch including a pair of clutches concentrically mounted in a rotatable housing, a hollow shaft and a sleeve having a driven gear aligned with the housing and adapted to be selectively driven by the clutches, and means loperable axially of said shafts for controlling the clutches, as will be more fully described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: n

Fig.4 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified form of clutch housing and clutch control.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view takenon the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic View of the cam settings to engage the disc clutches of Figures 2 and 3.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

'I'he numeral I indicates generally the transmission casing shown as being attached to the crank case 2 of a suitable internal combustion engine, not shown. The numeral 3 indicatesl the ange coupling of the crank shaft 4 of said engine.

v 5, .which may constitute the engine flywheel and consists of a flange 6, an annular flange I land an annular spacer 8. The flange 6 is provided with an internal hub 9 which is fitted with a bearing Ill and is provided with an inner and an outer fluid pressure tube Il and I2 Vrespectively. The spacer 8 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially arranged recesses or cylinders I3 and I4, which are fitted with pistons I5 and I6 respectively. The pistons I5 are integral with a thrust plate I1- and the pistons I6 are integral with a thrust -plate I8. The tube II communicates through a passage I9 with` the Pistons I6 to move the thrust plate I8 rearwards,

Secured to the coupling 3 is a housing and the tube I2 communicates through a passage 20 with the pistons I5 to move the thrust plate I1 forward towards the flange coupling 3.

Journalled upon the bearing I6 on the hub 9 of the flange 6 is the enlarged end 24 of a hollow shaft 25. This hollow shaft 25 is fitted adjacent its outer end with a one way brake 26 which permits said hollow shaft to rotate .in one direction only.' Secured intermediate the length of the hollow shaft 25 is a sun gear 21 in constant mesh with a set of planetary gears 28, which latter are rotatably supported from a flange 23 of a final drive sleeve 36. The :Iinal drive sleeve is fitted with a gear 3I which constitutes thev take off from the transmission. The gear 32 which meshes with the take off gear 3| is incidental to the device to be driven and forms no part of the invention.

A carrier 34 is rotatably journalled upon the hollow shaft 25 and is tted with one way brake 35. which permits said carrier to rotate in the same direction as the one way brake 26 and that direction only. The carrier 34 is provided with l a flange 36 supporting at its outer peripheryv an internal ring gear 38 which is in mesh with the planetary gears 28.

The enlarged end 24 of the hollow shaft 25 is splined as at 4I to slidably receive the flange 42 of a disc clutch 43, which clutch is adapted to be engaged between the flange 6 and the thrust plate I1 supporting the pistons I5. l

The carrier 34 is splined at its inner end as at 45 to slidably receive the flange .46 of a disc clutch 41, which clutch is adapted to be engaged between the flange 1 and the thrust plate I8 supporting the pistons L6. y

lThe outer end of the housing 2 is divided into annular passages 50 and V5I which are suitably glanded and communicate respectively with the interior of `the tubes II and I2. An inlet pipe 52 communicates with the passage 50 and the tube .II and an inlet pipe 53 communicates with the passage 5I and the interior of the tube I2.

In -themodification shown in Figures 2 and 3, the clutch housing is indicated bythe numeral y6I) and consists of a flange 6I secured to the ycrank shaft coupling 3 andxhaving an annular rim 62 provided with an internal rib 63 and internal longitudinal splines 64 and 65. The hollow shaft 66 which corresponds toY the hollow shaft 25 in Figure l, isjournalled in the flange 6I as at 61 and is provided with a splined enlargement 68 upon which is slidably fitted the flange 69 of a disc clutch 1li,`

The carrier 13 which corresponds to the carrier 34 of Figure 1, is provided with splines 14 upon which a flange 15 of a disc clutch 16 is slidably mounted. `The disc clutches 10 and 16 are each adapted to be thrust by thrust plates 11 and 18 respectively against -a splined non-rotating flange 19, which` ange is adjustablyheld in endwise position by an externally threaded ring 80. Each of the thrust plates 11 and 18 consists of a ange 82 slidably engaging the splines 6@ or 65 which is Journalled in lugs 93 on the inner faces of the thrust plates 11 and 18 are pairs of rollers 94 and journalled between pairs of lugs 95, which extend inwardly from the rib 63 of the annular rim 62, are shafts 96. Each of the shafts is provided with a pinion 91 at its centre, which meshes with one of the toothed racks 92 and has adjacent each end a short and a long cam respectively numberedI 98 and 99, which cams are selectively moved in response to the endwise movement of the rod 85 and the toothed racks 92.

The operation of the device as shown in Figure 1 is as follows:

With the housing 5 rotating, when fluid under pressure is admitted from the pipe'53 and through the tube I2 to the cylinders I3, the pistons I5 and their thrust plate are thrust forwardly-to bind the disc clutch 43 against the fiange 6, so that said disc clutch will through the splines 4I drive the hollow shaft 25 and its sun gear 21 at crank shaft or housing speed. Since no drive is now imparted to the housing through the disc clutch 41 the one way brake 35 will hold the carrier 34 against reverse rotation, together with the ring gear 38, so that the sun gear 21 will roll the planetary gears 28 around said ring gear and impart rotation to the nal drive sleeve 30 and the take off gear 3l at the low speed of the transmission train. l

When fluid pressure is admitted from the pipe 52 and through the tube .II to the cylinders I4, the pistons Ii6 and their supporting thrust plate l-8 are moved rearwardly, or to the right,.thusI remain stationary, so that the rotation of the ring gear 38 about the planetary gears 28 will cause said planetary gears to travel around the sun gear in the same direction as the housing. The planetary gears being carried by the ange of the flnal drive sleeve 30 must on rotation about the sun gear cause the take off gear 3| to rotate atthe same speed as said planetary gears travel around their orbit. In the instance above described intermediate speed will result.

When fluid is admitted to both tubes I I and I2 simultaneously and both clutch discs 43 and 41 are engaged, both one-way brakes 26 and 35 will be free wheeling and the hollow shaft 25 with right or away from the ange li.

its take off gear 3l and the carrier 34 with its ring gear 38 will be rotating in the same direction and -at the same speed. Consequently the planetary gears 28 will not rotate about their own axes, bu-t will serve to rotate the final drive sleeve 39 andthe take ol gear 3I at housing or high Speed.

The operation of the clutch control as shown in Figures 2 and 3 is as follows:

lThe endwise movable rod is shown in neu-l tral position with both disc clutches disengaged .y and it will be obvious that the rod may be moved "an equal distance in opposite directions, we will therefore assume for the purpose of description that the major movement is to be made to the To engage clutch 19, the rod 85 is moved to the left, swinging the shafts 96, see Figure 2, to the right to cause the long cam 99 to move the thrust plate 11 to the left and engage the clutch 10, see Figure 4. To engage the clutch 116, the rod is moved to the right of the neutral position, causing the long cam 99 to move the thrust plate 18 to engage the clutch 1.6 and leave the clutch 10 disengaged.

When the rod 85 is moved still further to the right, the long cam 99 continues to hold the thrust plate 18 in engagement with its clutch 16 and the short cam 98 moves the thrust plate 11 to the left to engage the clutch 19 also.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. AIn a transmission, a clutch mechanism consisting of a rotatable housing adapted for connection to a drive shaft, said housing having a pair of spaced flanges, the first of said flanges having a bearing hub, a sleeve journaled upon the hub, a clutch member slidably mounted upon the sleeve and secured for rotation therewith, said clutch member being adapted to engage the first ange and be driven thereby, a second sleeve journaled upon the first sleeve, a -second clutch member slidably mounted upon said sleeve and secured for rotation therewith, said second clutch member being adapted to engage the second flange to be driven thereby and means for selectively moving the clutch members into engagement with their respectiveiianges.

2. In a transmission, a clutch mechanism consisting of a rotatable housing adapted for connection to a drive shaft, said housing having a pair of spaced flanges, the first of said fianges having a bearing hub, a sleeve journalled upon the hub, a clutch member slidably mounted upon the sleeve and secured for rotation therewith,

said clutch member being adapted to engage the first flange and bev driven thereby, a second sleeve journaled upon the first sleeve, a second clutch member slidably mounted upon said sleeve and secured for rotation therewith, said second clutch /member being adapted to engage the second flange to be driven thereby and means for selectively moving both the clutch members into engagement with their respective flanges.

3. In a transmission, a clutch mechanism consisting of a rotatable housing adapted` for connection to a drive shaft, said housing having a pair of spaced flanges, the first of said flanges having a bearing hub, a sleeve journaled upon the hub, a clutch member slidably mounted upon the sleeve and secured for rotationtherewith, a second sleeve journaled upon the f-lrstsleeve, a second clutch member slidably mounted upon said slee've and secured for rotation therewith, and means carried by the housing adapted to selectively clamp the rst clutch member to the first flange and the second clutch member to the secthe hub, a clutch member slidably mounted upon the sleeve and secured for rotation therewith, a second sleeve journaled ,upon the first sleeve, a second clutch member slidably mounted upon said sleeve and secured for rotation therewith, and

means carried by the housing adapted to collec tively clamp the first clutch member to the first flange and the second clutch member to the second ange of the housing to drive both sleeves simultaneously.

5. A clutch mechanism as claimed lin claim 1 wherein the means for moving the clutch members into engagement with their respective anges consists of a plurality of cams and a control rod extending through the drive shaft for rocking the cams.

6. A'clutch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for moving the clutch members into engagement with their respective anges consists of a pair of slidable thrust plates, a plurality of cams for engaging each thrust plate and a control rod extending through the drive shaft for rocking the cams.

l7. A clutch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe means for moving the clutch members into engagement with their respective flanges consistsof a pair of slidable thrust plates, a plurality of camsV for engaging each thrust plate, pinions secured to the cams, a plurality of racks in mesh with the pinions and a control rod extending through the drive shaft for moving the racks to rock the cams.

FRANK LENDRUM LAWRENCE. 

